


The Shadow Mermaid (Alternate title: Witches are basically the shadows of Magical Girls on steroids, right?)

by Hopeater



Series: Persona x PMMM [1]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Gen, Happy Ending, Humor, Magical Girls, Mami is still dead, Minato Yu and Akira are friends, Minato is alive, Personas, Satanael appear as a human in Akira's head, Shadows - Freeform, Witches, the ship is very very minor, what is this mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-04 16:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14597136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeater/pseuds/Hopeater
Summary: When sent to the city of Mitakihara to study a strange phenomenon that may or may not be Shadows, the three Wild Cards were expecting another part of the Metaverse.Not whatever the fuck this pocket dimension containing a Mermaid-Knight-Monster thing that's screaming about heartbreak at a small child (who Minato just accidentally brought back to life) is.





	The Shadow Mermaid (Alternate title: Witches are basically the shadows of Magical Girls on steroids, right?)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a cross-over between Persona and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. You will find here:  
> -Parallels between Witches and Shadows  
> -My main headcanon that appear in the Wildcard Roommate series AKA: Yu, Minato and Akira have a sibling-like relationship. They are now out of college and work for Mitsuru in studying Shadows.  
> -My horrible sense of humor.  
> -Lots of shameless swearing courtesy of Akira, Minato and Oktavia.  
> -Violence. You're warned.  
> -Background romantic relationships and some Madoka/Homuro teasing.  
> -Also, Kyoko wasn't able to pick up Sayaka's body.  
> -You can expect more of one-shots crossovers between these two universes from me in the future.
> 
> I also drew some illustrations related to the fanfic on there: https://hopeaterart.tumblr.com/  
> Enjoy!

"Alright, so this is Mitakihara." Yu said, stepping out of their limousine, visibly amazed at the slick architecture of everything. This was, after all, one of Japan's most technologically advanced city.

"Wow. It's like stepping twenty minutes into the future." Akira added as he went next to Yu, admiring to tall buildings that reflected the light.

"...Where's Minato?" The silverhead asked. The glass-wearing one simply looked at Yu, before looking in the backseat of their car and noticing the bluenette sleeping soundly. Akira then proceeded to bang on the car's roof, waking Minato up in the process.

The bluenette got out of the car, mumbling. "Akira, what the hell?!"

"We're here." The frizzy-haired one said. The bluenette looked around, barely impressed.

"This looks like Iwatodai, but with less water." The lazy one finally said.

"Sucks for you, then." Said Akira. "So, what are the readings about?" He said, turning to the silverhead.

"Apparently, there's been some kind of other dimension fusing with our's around the city at various points. The readings seems to be unable to make their mind if it's something similar to Tartarus or Mementos." Yu stated, taking the papers out of his saddle bag and looking them over, critical. "The most recent reading is from a train station, which is also by far one of the most powerful."

"So we might have to bust out the big guns." Minato acknowledged. By "big guns", he meant their Ultimate Personas.

"... Maybe not that extreme, but we'll have to use more than our weapons, acrobatics and basic Personas, yes." Yu answered. Akira nodded, tightening his grip on the cello case that they used to stuff their weapons in to carry them around easily.

"Basically, there's a reason why we're the one sent here: these aren't regular readings, and as Wild Cards, we can adapt better than most." Akira summed, his expression darkening...

"Else, why isn't Kotone with us? I mean, she's a Wild Card too." Minato asked, not realizing this would cause a drastic change of subject.

"Because she's busy preparing her wedding with Shinjiro." Yu blankly stated.

" _What!?_ Why wasn't I invited?"

"Minato. Kotone asked you to be the ring bearer." Akira reminded.

"The fuck she did- wait Yu where are you going-"

"The train station. Saikawa-san," Yu said to the maid at the driver's seat, "please bring our belongings to where we will be staying for the week."

"Aye." The maid answered as she drove away.

"WAIT FOR US YOU JACKASS!" Akira screamed, followed closely by Minato.

* * *

The three of them ended up in a strange place, were the colors seemed drained and with train tracks twisting everywhere. The floor was checkered tiles, but it was uneven and everywhere and walking on the tracks seemed like the better option. All of them led to the same door anyway. The three Wildcards looked at each other, uneasy. As they followed each other toward the door, weapons in hand, Akira noticed he had shifted into his Phantom Thief outfit.

"Guys, the thing that formed this place doesn't like us." Stated the thief, looking himself over.

"Goddammit. What even _is_ this place?!" Minato asked, looking around.

"The readings said the environment is similar to Tartarus and Mementos, but now that we're inside, I don't really see a resemblance." Explained Yu, as he put his glasses on in an attempt to see if it would make things better. It barely helped in the process of understanding what was going on in here.

"... Does that mean the Reaper will show up?" Minato asked nervously, suddenly realizing that the gun-wielding Shadow haunted both places that were said to have similar readings.

"I said 'similar to', not 'identical to'. The zones have their own energy signature, and this apparently has been going on for a while. The reason why it's similar is because they apparently collapse on themselves after too much meddling and seems to be born from negative emotions, but we have no readings of the Reaper, nor Shadows. Well, no readings from Shadows beside one for each zone, but it's so powerful it's more akin to a mini-God. Spending too much time in these pocket dimensions also seem to mess with human biology."

"So basically, we'll need to use the big guns." Minato stated, his tone deadpan.

"Yes." The silverhead agreed, checking if he was able to summon his card. Upon seeing he could, "We'll need to bust out the big guns."

Finally, the Wildcards came across the door, and entered. Violins could be heard playing in a cacophony in another room, and the windows seemingly displayed short movies about a young, blue-haired girl. As they were half-way through the corridor, they came across...

"Oh no." Yu said.

"Oh shit." Akira agreed.

"... Do you think she's-"

"Oh, yeah. She is definitely _dead_." Minato confirmed, cutting Yu off as he looked at the body of the young girl before them, frowning. "Wow."

Akira approached her, looking her over. "Can't be more than fourteen. Died not even twenty-four hours ago. Probably died because some jackass ate her soul or something. I think it's the girl from the windows."

"You've got to be kidding me. The mission just starts and we already come across a dead body!?" Minato complained.

"We were informed that they were a lot of disappearances in Mitakihara. Those strange dimensions must be the cause of it." Yu stated, his tone blank and eyes rived on the body

"When were we informed of _that_!?" Minato exclaimed, turning his head to the silverhead.

"When Mitsuru was assigning us to this mission." Akira stated, turning his head away from the body and toward Minato. "Geez, do you ever listen to her?"

"Akira, I'm narcoleptic. I probably fell asleep without realizing it."

"I'm pretty sure narcolepsy involves insomnia and you sleep right at night-"

"Shut up, Yu." The bluenette said as he approached the body, turning it over. He frowned when he saw her face. "She was crying during the time of her death."

"You think she was aware of what was happening?" Akira asked. Minato knelt next to him.

"Probably." Minato frowned. He approached his hand from her face, intent on wiping the tears tracks from her face. And his vision became white.

* * *

Sayaka woke up in a somersault, shaking. Her entire body hurt. Her lower abdomen especially. She felt as if something had been ripped out of her. She opened her eyes. Upon her vision being assaulted by bright lights, she closed them again, and tried to sit up. Couldn't. Her entire body refused to move.

"Hey, it's alright." It was a guy's voice, very clear. She turned her head to the source of the voice, and tried opening her eyes again. Again, she wasn't able to. "Don't try to force yourself." That guy again? She felt two arms slip under her, one under her knees and the other one under her back. They then lifted her without much effort, setting her so her back would be resting on a wall before she felt something had been dropped on her head. "Is it better like that?"

She tried opening her eyes again. This time, the light didn't immediately blind her, and she successfully opened them. It took a while before the blur in her vision disappeared, but it eventually did and she was able to make out a guy who seemed older than her in front of her. He had silver hair, grey eyes with a ring in them and had yellow rectangle glasses, and was looking at her in a worried manner. She tried talking, but her throat hurt too much, so she nodded.

"Okay, that's good. Does anything hurt?" He then asked, frowning. At least, she thought he was frowning. His stupid bangs were styled in a bowl cut and hid his eyebrows. She nodded.

"Akira!" The guy called to someone on the side. The guy that came into view was... something else alright. Wore all black clothes completed with a long coat and a black and white mask, and his eyes seemed to be a bright red. His black hair were also much, much fluffier and messier than the neatly cut bangs and ponytail the other one had

"Yeah, what?" The other guy asked, his voice much deeper than the silverhead.

"Do you have any anti-pain medication? Or can you cast a Dia spell?" The other guy then rummaged inside his coat, before getting out a set of white with green accents beads. The silverhead took one of them, and showed it to her so she could get a good look."Open your mouth."

She reluctantly did and he pitched it inside her mouth before she clamped it shut. She just tasted something vaguely sweet before it instantly melted inside her mouth. Immediately, all the pain in her body disappeared, even if she still felt like someone had ripped out something. She then stood up with the guy's help as she took the thing he put on her head off (it was a leather jacket) and draped it around her shoulders.

"Thank you." She succeeded in biting out before looking around. This seemed like a witch's barrier. And who were these guys?

"No problem." The silver head reassured. She did a double take when she realized just how tall he was. Meanwhile, the other guy kicked a third one who was lying on the ground, and seemingly woke him up.

"Ow." The guy stated, and she noticed his head was full of bright blue hair a shade darker than hers.

"You brought her back. Felicitations." The drama-looking one (Akira?) said, his tone deadpan.

"Don't be ridiculous, you can't bring back people from the dea- WHAT THE FUCK?!" He screamed as he spotted her. She shrunk on herself at this.

"You said something along the lines of 'I am the Messiah and you don't deserve to die, Recarm' and then you fainted." The silverhead said, tone neutral.

"Of all the time he could intervene..." the bluenette said as he stood up, face darkening.

"... Who are you?" She finally asked, perplexed at their casual attitude at being in a witch barrier.

"Oh! Narukami Yu, Member of the Shadow operatives. And these two are Arisato Minato," he gestured to the blue-haired guy, who was looking at her with a mix of confusion and anger "and Kurusu Akira." He gestured to the drama-looking one, who simply nodded at her. "You can consider us to be paranormal investigators."

"... Seriously?" She asked. When Narukami nodded, she panicked. "Then you have to get out before the Witch realizes you're here!"

"... The witch?" Asked Kurusu.

"Yes, the witch! If you don't, she's gonna eat you!"

"... I think we can handle cannibals." Arisato stated, getting some kind of gun out.

"She's not just some random cannibal, she's a creature beyond human understanding!"

"... Yeah, we can handle a witch." Kurusu stated.

"I think we'll need to escort her out first." Narukami said, as he gestured toward her.

Sayaka took a step back, frowning. "Excuse you, I can deal with a witch."

 "Then why do you want us to get out?" Asked Kurusu, visibly unimpressed.

"Because you can't fight witches, but I can!" She stated, annoyed.

"Uh uh. A thirteen years old has more experience with fighting monsters than three paranormal investigators who have seen enough shit to fill three fantasy book series. Sure." Arisato snarked.

"No, seriously! I'll just use my soul gem and-" and it was then that Sayaka realized just _what_  had been ripped out of her. "MY SOUL GEM!"

"Look," Narukami put a hand on her shoulder, "I know you don't want us to get hurt, but trust me. We can handle anything this witch can throw at us. But for now, we need to get you out."

"... Okay." She said, riving her eyes on her feet, feeling shame overtaking her at having lost her soul gem.

"No need to be so sad, uhh... what's your name?" Narukami asked, tilting his head to the side in an apologetic yet sympathetic manner.

"Oh! I'm Sayaka Miki." And thus, the beginning of the impossible started.

* * *

It started with the windows in the hall shutting off, plunging the hall in darkness. Then, the floor started moving, taking them to the end of the corridor. Sayaka hid behind Yu, Minato readied his sword, and for Akira, time seemed to slow to a crawl as he was pulled inside his head. When it seemed to stop, he was in a dark, yet well-lit room.

 _We meet yet again, Trickster._ He turned toward the source of the voice. A blue, masculine person he didn't see at first was there, smiling softly at him. He was wearing a golden mask,  had red eyes, four horns and three pair of wings...

"Satanael?!"

 _In some sort, yes_. The man answered,  soft smile shifting for something more enigmatic. Akira groaned.

"Why am I here?"

_It was the only way for me to tell you what is happening. Messiah has already intervened more than he should, and Izanagi-no-Okami is incapable to understand just what created this little... pocket due to his very nature as a God born from something positive._

"Well then, explain away."

_This is the Barrier of the Witch Oktavia von Seckendorff. A Witch is born when a Magical girl-_

"Magical girl?!" Upon being sent a flat look by the demon's avatar, Akira clamped his mouth shut.

_Yes, magical girls. Girls in their early teenage years who made a contract with... you know what? Let's get back to the witch. So, as I was saying, a Witch is born when a Magical girl feel such despair that, for a moment, she think she will never recover. Using up too much of her magic also plays a role in it. Anyway, this is the Witch of the girl you have rescued. And having a Magical girl and her Witch form exist simultaneously isn't supposed to happen._

"And in a hypothetical scenario where it happens, it would entail?..."

_In circumstances where the Magical girl somehow survived turning into a witch? In the best case scenario, a permanent case of Apathy syndrome, and worst case, the universe imploding on itself. In the circumstances where Sayaka exist simultaneously as Oktavia right now due to Messiah's Recarm? Recarm which gave her back whatever was left of her soul that was left untouched by the process of becoming a Witch and the slow corrosion of it during the last few hours? An encounter with what basically amount to her Shadow on steroids is in order. The only problem is that this isn't a shadow, but a bloodthirsty monster that can not be reasoned with._

Akira paled. "Are there any ways to fend off a Witch?"

_Well, I suppose you could defeat it, but you'll need to catch her attention first, so you'll have to silence her orchestra._

"I can do that. Now, can you let me go back, please?..."

Satanael chuckled.  _Very well, then. Make us proud, Trickster._ As Akira started to leave, the Arch Demon spoke up again.  _Oh, wait! When she is defeated, give the metal construction the Witch will generate to Sayaka. It will make her soul complete again and allow her to move, act and think freely, even if it will also leave her deeply depressed. But the facts are that this would be the closest thing the world as come to healing a Magical Girl from her Witch state, and also means that Miki Sayaka will be able to help with a catastrophe that will soon befall Mitakihara._

"Uh... alright. Thanks for the lesson!" And Akira vanished from the room, leaving Satanael by himself once again.

* * *

The sudden light blinded Minato, but what was the most offensive to his senses was the violent orchestra, playing in such a way that it was nonsensical, most violins badly tuned and none of them seemed to follow the same bandmaster. Once his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, he was able to see just what was the source of this strange place; a huge mermaid who seemed to be wearing a cape and a knight armor, it's few movements jerky and a huge sword in hand. It was sitting on some kind of podium and it's tail was resting on the ground. It moved along to the screeching tune of the orchestra, seemingly blissfully unaware of their presence.

 "What the..." He muttered, turning toward Yu and Akira. The silverhead was letting Sayaka use him as a human shield, her small frame easily hidden by his body, and Akira seemed to finally snap out of his trance. "What the hell is that?!" He succeeded in saying loud enough to be heard. He only saw Sayaka lips move, and was able to make out the word "Witch". The orchestra only became louder and louder. Akira finally took a step forward, went to the middle of the room, and took a determined stance in front of the mermaid-knight- _thing_. And then...

" ** _QUIEEEEEET!!!_** " The Phantom thief bellowed at the top of his lungs, somehow drowning the screeching of the orchestra. Immediately, a heavy silence installed itself. The creature also stopped moving, and tilted it's head downward to where Akira was. Minato got the strange impression that the mermaid was glaring at the frizzy-haired one, seeing as it's helmet had an unchanging grin.

"Are you Oktavia?" Joker finally asked, taking a determined stance. Minato didn't know where he got that name, but started unsheathing his sword when the gargantuan slowly nodded it's head. "Very well then," the mask-wearing one said as he reached for said object on his face, "because I am here to kill you, Witch!" And, in a flurry of blue flames, Satanael appeared, in all of it's demonic glory.

Normally, the appearance of the arch-demon alone was enough to whip any monsters into submission. But the Mermaid - no, Witch - Oktavia? - let out a scream of pure rage, that sounded disturbingly like a distortion of Miki-san's voice. And thus, it brandished it's sword and basically jumped on Satanael. The demon blocked the blade with the barrel of his gun, but Oktavia swiped him off at his feet with it's tail. When he crashed on the ground, the Mermaid raised it's sword high above it's head...

The sound of glass breaking could be heard, and Izanagi-No-Okami ran at a high speed toward Oktavia, and blocked the mermaid's sword with the long blade of it's spear, successfully throwing her off. Satanael took the occasion to fly high, taking aim at the Mermaid. It's only reaction was to summon a bunch of wheels and start directing them in the demon's direction. This threw the demon aim off, and he started soaring, trying avoid them, but seeing as he had such a great height...

A gunshot was heard, and Messiah took a hold of the wheel that was closest to Satanael and threw it at another one, destroying both in the process. He then floated in the air, the chain wrapped around his arm to which coffin-like blades were tied extending and swirling all around. This action proceeded to be the cause of destroying all wheels, thus giving Satanael cover as he readied his gun, and limited the available space Izanagi-No-Okami and Oktavia's sword fight, which was basically the Witch swiping at the God with all her might with her sword as he blocked every blow, not changing his stance.

The arch-demon's gun went off, and the cutlass was out of Oktavia's hand. It landed on the ground, beyond what it could reach. Izanagi-no-Okami went back into it's Arcana, as Satanael pointed his gun to the back Oktavia's head and Messiah tightened his hold on the chain, moving all the blades so they pointed to the witch. Sayaka finally went from behind Yu to standing next to him, amazement in her eyes at seeing how easily three guys took care of disabling the witch. Now, they could easily go in for the kill.

And yellow started swirling in Oktavia's eyes as she recognized herself.

* * *

 " _You..._ " Yu took a defensive stance, one hand on his katana and the other one readying a card. The Mermaid was speaking in his direction. His and Sayaka's. He had the protect her. He looked at the two others. Minato was looking at him, then at Oktavia with a surprised expression, while Akira simply looked at the witch with an unreadable expression.

"What do you want-"

" _I'm not speaking to you._ " The witch declared, tone full of bitterness. She then pointed to Sayaka. " _I'm talking to **her**_."

"Me?" The young girl answered. Suddenly, it clicked in Yu's head. The yellow eyes, the distorted voice, the films in the previous corridor...

This place was basically Sayaka's Tv World Studio or Palace, and this thing before them was her Shadow. He took a stance next to her, sheathing his katana and putting his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head toward him, surprised. He simply looked at her, trying to look and sound reassuring. "I'm telling you now: you will not like to truth, but you need to face it. Alright?" Sayaka nodded, a determined expression on her face, before turning back toward Oktavia.

" _Yes, you._ " The mermaid answered, acid dripping from it's- no, her, this was just another part of Sayaka - distorted voice. " _The stupid girl who fell in love._ "

The blue-haired girl flinched at that. "Wh-what? How is falling in love making me stupid?"

" _Don't play that game! You know what I'm talking about. We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't wasted your wish on that ingrate Kamijo!"_ Oktavia bellowed, arms raising in the air as the violins slowly started playing again, but in a much less erratic and much more sorrowful manner. Yu spotted out of the corner of his eye Messiah flinching, the chain that had wrapped all around the place slightly loosening.

"How was using my wish to heal Kyousuke's hand a waste?"

" _You... don't remember..._ " The mermaid said, bewildered at first, before exploding into laughter. " _SHE DOESN'T REMEMBER!!!_ " Could be heard in the middle of her howling. She then went still, and stared at Sayaka. " _How about a little memory jog, then?_   _Hitomi posing a time limit to confess to Kyousuke, him accepting her confession,_ " Sayaka's brow furrowed, her eyes widening as she started to remember " _these two... assholes who were talking about a girl like she was some kind of dog, and then Kyouko who finds you alone in a train station, and finally..._ "

Sayaka gasped, her memories of what happened flooding her. The one where she saw her Soul gem break and unleash dark energy being particularly clear now. "No, it can't..."

" _Oh, but it can._ "

"Uh, excuse me? But what the actual fuck is going on right now?" Minato asked, irritated from being left out of the loop.

"Can't you recognize something you spent years fighting?" Akira asked, before gesturing to Oktavia. "That's Sayaka's Shadow!"

"Wait,  _WHAT?!_ " And just like that, Messiah disappeared due to Minato's surprise and loss of focus, and the chain that held Oktavia's back went with him. The Mermaid immediately tried to charge Sayaka, who was despairing on the spot. Thankfully, Yu putting himself between the two and slashing her across the face a split second before she could harm the smaller girl sent her back howling and sprawling on the ground. Satanael immediately put the barrel of his gun right to her face, immobilizing her.

"Akira, don't make him pull the trigger yet. Oktavia, is it? Continue babbling on, it'll get you better results than trying to attack us." The silverhead said, in a combat position before relaxing and looking at Sayaka. The poor girl was crying as she looked at Oktavia.

"This... this is me?" She asked to no one in particular, looking at the grotesque mermaid.

Yu went next to her, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. You can fix this."

"How?! This is- this is worse than what I could have expected! First, I became a- a zombie, and now I discover that Magical girls become witches?! I- I killed witches before- oh my god I killed other magical girls-"

"Look, I know this is hard to accept, but you need to recognize that you and Oktavia are the same." Yu explained, bending to be at Sayaka's eye-level. "When you will, she will go back inside of you, you will feel better to have faced the repressed side of you, and you will gain a new power. However, if you deny that you and the mermaid are the same..."

"You will faint and she'll go berserk on our ass in an attempt to eat your soul and take your place." Akira said, cutting Yu off as he turned his head toward them. "Satanael, stay on guard but let Oktavia talk to her. I think I know what Yu is doing."

The girl and the witch looked at each other, the only sound heard was the violins' melody. Amazingly enough, Sayaka was the one to talk first. "So... your name is Oktavia?"

" _Oktavia von Seckendorff is my full name. I am the Mermaid Witch, my nature is to fall in love, and I am born from **you**._ " Oktavia explained, tone fairly neutral and even until the last precision, where it turned to pure acid.

"So... I guess it means we're the same, in a sense." Sayaka tried. Yu had to smile at that. She understood what she had to do, and was determined to do it. He could agree with that point of view.

Too bad Oktavia didn't think the same. " _Quit lying, you just want to get rid of me, and for what? So you can get back to Kyousuke-kun, even if he does not care about us?_ " The witch's voice was dripping with bitterness.

"It's not that simple-"

" _It's extremely simple! You fell in love with the boy next door who plays violin, and what did that get you? An ungrateful little shit who tells you to piss off when you try to cheer him up, and who's not even willing to tell you when he's out of the hospital. And don't forget how you think that he and your best friend betrayed you when it's all your damn fault._ "

"How is that my fault!?"

" _Well, maybe if, instead of wallowing in self-misery about your own damn choices and just went along with Hitomi's ultimatum, you wouldn't be in this mess._ "

"You know," started Minato as Oktavia and Sayaka continued to bicker about two people they didn't know. "When Mitsuru told us to investigate some shit that could be the Metaverse, that's not what I expected."

"What? You mean you didn't expect a Mermaid to start screaming at a thirteen-fourteen years old about how she wasn't betrayed by her "true love", but that getting her heart broken was all her fault? When what she's describing sounds more like a teenage crush?" Akira sarcastically asked, turning toward the bluenette.

"Yeah." Minato confirmed, looking at the mermaid as she rambled on and on at Sayaka, who was becoming more adept at countering her arguments, but also more shaken as the witch continued rambling.

* * *

"Hey Kyoko..." started Madoka, following the redhead very closely in the dark corridor. "Do you really think we have a chance of bringing Sayaka back?"

"Kyubey said he didn't know if there was a way. Isn't that right?" The magical girl asked, turning toward the white creature that was perched on Madoka's shoulder.

"Exactly!" Kyubey affirmed, expression and tone of voice still as unchanging. "However, Sayaka is still a witch right now, and so, very, very aggressive."

"We know that." Kyoko growled. She then turned to Madoka. "If you wanna go back, you still can."

 "No, I'm going to help you reach to Sayaka." Said to pinkette, tone growing more determined.

"You could make a wish!" Kyubey suddenly suggested as they neared the door, where they could hear screaming from the other side.

"It's alright, I think I can reach to her with only Kyoko's protection. Right?" Madoka said, perking up when the redhead nodded.

Kyoko then slammed the door open, summoning her spear as she did so. "Alright, now stick to the plan-"

" _KYOUSUKE SUCKS AND **SO DO YOU!!!**_ " 

Kyoko blinked. The witch was here alright. But she looked different. Had yellow eyes instead of black. And she could talk. Also, three guys were here, and a giant demon thing with a gun. Oh, and Sayaka too.

Wait, Sayaka?!

Said blue-haired girl was heavily crying and had no words following the Mermaid's outburst, and was being comforted by one of the guys, the taller one with silver hair. Meanwhile, the second guy, a small one with blue hair, was sitting on the ground and calmly drinking coffee, watching the scene as if it was some kind of twisted theater play he saw thousands of time. As for the third one, the one with an eccentric fashion sense and curly black hair, he was watching all of it with an unreadable expression, mainly because she couldn't see his face. As for the demon, he was pointing it's gun toward the back of the Witch's head, even if his red eyes were currently staring at them.

Suddenly, the barrel was facing toward Madoka. The only reaction of the smaller girl was to freeze in fear and squeak. Kyoko barely had the time to make a barrier rise before the demon started shooting madly, the soft growl in his throat slowly turning into an furious roar as chunks of her barrier started to slowly break away. Finally, the barrier shattered in a violent explosion, the impact of the bullet with it sending Madoka flying back and Kyubey even further.

Kyoko moved when her friend's cry for help reached her ears. "Madoka!" The redhead reached for the pinkette, worried about the possibility of her getting injured, or worse. Luckily for her, Homura Akemi decided to appear at the same instant, catching Madoka in her arms before landing on the ground flawlessly.

"You're alright?" The dark-haired girl asked, worry swirling in her purple eyes as she turned them toward Madoka. The smaller girl nodded, a small blush on her cheeks before the time manipulator set her down. Homura then looked at the scene between Sayaka and Oktavia, her expression going back to it's usual stoicism. Kyoko guessed she probably watched the beginning of it uphold.

Said scene would have continued, but another scene, the one of the demon finding Kyubey and being determined to shoot it had taken everyone's attention, including Sayaka's and Oktavia's. Seeing as the barrel was easily bigger than Kyubey, the only thing it could do was to swear under it's breath in annoyance as it waited for another of it's body to be destroyed in a short span of time.

Good thing (or maybe not?) that the demon immediately disappeared into blue flames about the same time where a mask appeared the eccentric one's face.

* * *

 _KURUSU!!!_ bellowed out the arch-demon in Akira's head.  _WHAT IN HELL ARE YOU DOING?!_

'You can't do that!' Akira told him telepathically, trying to sooth the demon down, to no effect. 'Do you realize you almost killed a little girl because you wanted - and tried - to shoot something so little?! I'm pretty sure you could just have picked the thing up and crushed it between your fingers without harming her! And anyway, I don't kill living beings and you know that! You're supposed to stick to that too! I am thou, thou art I, remember?'

 _I DO NOT CARE FOR HER, NOR THIS WRETCHED, DOOMED PLACE!_  Akirawinced. He forgot that Satanael's moral code was 1) much more extreme than his, and that 2) as long as it didn't concern his friends (or would cause the end of the world), the demon did not care about the collateral damage. If he didn't like it, he would destroy it no matter the cost (again, as long as the world wouldn't be destroyed).

_The Incubators have shown themselves, and they are the cause of this witch, all the other ones, the death and despair of mostly innocent small girls and the soon to come Walpurgis Night. And all for something that will happen in about a googol year! For this, they have decided to harm the ones from who we are born from, for something that will occur when even Nyx herself will have disappeared! This useless suffering of us have created a time loop focused entirely around the pink one, who has the potential to destroy everything! For this offense toward the ones we are born from, we must now have it's BLOOD!_

Akira understood absolutely nothing of what the demon just rambled about, but guessed it was probably some god-related bullshit. 'What.' was the only thing he could think to make his confusion known.

_WE DEMAND BLOOD_

The Phantom Thief looked at the disapproving look Minato was giving him for losing control of his Persona. He gritted his teeth. 'I'm not going to kill anyone to satisfy your bloodlust, Satanael-' Akira's eye rolled to the back of his head as his head dropped. " _Blood_."

"What?" Asked Minato, who was pretty much the only one focused on Akira right now. The frizzy-haired one raised his head, eyes still white and his voice echoing, getting everyone's attention.

" _We demand the Incubator's **BLOOD**_ \- GAH!" Akira snapped out of his trance, eyes re-appearing as he did so. He had no idea what just happened, just that he blacked out for a moment. When he got a full hold of his senses again, everyone was looking at him.

"... Will you be alright?" Asked Yu, asked Yu, frowning.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine." Answered the frizzy-haired one, trying to ignore his Persona's demand for blood.

Yu nodded, before bringing his attention back to Sayaka. Said girl was currently taking deep breathes to calm herself down. She then opened her eyes, and focused on the Witch.

Said Witch turned to her, having felt more than noticed the blue haired girl's gaze on her.

"Okay, so... if I avoid falling in love at all cost, will that be alright?" Asked Sayaka, taking a step toward her "Shadow".

Immediately, Oktavia bent her back backward, screeching " _NO_ " at the top of her magical, non-existent lungs. " _I DON'T WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT LOVE!_ " Was probably what surprised Sayaka the most after Oktavia spent a good five minutes dragging her through the dirt for falling for Kyousuke. " _Love is my very nature! If I do not love, I have no purpose! And being left unloved has made me miserable! Without love, I am nothing! NOTHING!!!_ "

"Well then, if I was wrong to fall for Kyousuke, but you don't want to not fall in love, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" Sayaka finally screamed, exasperated and confused by the Witch's arguments. If she knew in what direction to go, she would get this done easier, right?

Oktavia went still. " _I want love. It's all I want. I don't want to be rejected again, I don't want to be betrayed, I just want someone to give me love without walking out on me._ " She said after a moment, voice slowly breaking.

Sayaka simply lowered her head in understanding, but slightly perked up when she felt Yu petting her shoulder in a reassuring manner. However, she did not notice the frown marring his face as he tried to think of something to give to Sayaka so she could appease the Mermaid.

Well, that was going to  be complicated. This Shadow seemed to be born from either an humiliating rejection from her crush or her friend going behind her back and getting together with her crush. While it was much, much more complicated than that, and the two other actors of Sayaka's love life much less cruel than what his theories made them seem, no one could really blame him since the second theory was how Oktavia interpreted how Sayaka saw the situation.

However, a hero rose at that moment, someone no one but Homura expected: Madoka Kaname. "I- I can be there for you!" She said, voice simultaneously squeaking and perking up.

Oktavia turned toward the pink-haired girl. " _Madoka_..." She muttered as she slowly floated toward her, Sayaka all but forgotten.

"I know i-it wouldn't be the same as being in a relationship, b-but it would be alright, right?" Madoka asked, stepping toward the witch. Kyoko tensed up when Oktavia stopped moving, towering over the small girl. She almost summons her spear when the Mermaid raises a hand...

... and booped Madoka on her nose. The smaller girl made a happy squeak at this, as the only thing the redhead could do was stare, befuddled.

" _You... you aren't mad at me?_ " Asked Oktavia, bending down so she could at eye-level with Madoka. When the smaller girl nodded her head in confirmation, Oktavia turned back toward Sayaka.

Upon getting a friendly push from Yu, she walked toward her Shadow, much more serene than earlier. "So... still believe I was lying when I said we were the same?"

"... _No, you were right. I am you..._ " Huge, glowing blue cracks appeared in the barrier, as Minato summoned Messiah, who pulled everyone toward him to protect them from the barrier's breakdown. "... _And you are me._ "

The entire place exploded as Messiah used his body as a shield, protecting everyone from the mass of energy released, that was swirling to one, precise point.

* * *

"Urgh..."

"MINATO WAKE UP!" SLAP!

"AH! I WASN'T SLEEPING, I WAS JUST DRAINED AFTER PROTECTING EVERYONE, YOU FUCKING-"

"Akira, Minato calm down." Yu said. He then turned to Sayaka, who looked equally tired. "Sayaka-chan, will you be fine?"

"Uh uh." She then looked at the leather jacket that was still draped around her shoulders like a blanket. "Can I keep it?" She asked.

"I don't see why not." The silverhead answered, not too worried as he had more than one in his baggage. Speaking of which... "Hey, where will be staying? Does Mitsuru have another house around here, or will we be staying in a hotel?"

"Wait, I'll call Saikawa-chan. She was the one driving our limo, after all." Minato muttered, taking out his phone as Yu helped Sayaka adjust the collar of the much, much too big leather jacket, as to look like how he normally wore it (popped up). When it was well-adjusted, Sayaka grinned, before remembering something. "Hey, has someone seen my Soul Gem?"

"Oh, you mean this?" Sayaka looked down, and saw Kyubey carrying her soul gem in his mouth by the top emblem. It had gained back it's shine, and was in fact brighter than ever. "It seems the process of accepting the Witch as a part of yourself has purified it. Good job." The blue-haired girl took the Gem from the Incubator, and walked toward her friends, who were both looking at her.

"Yo, you'll be alright?" Asked Kyoko, her clothes switching back to normal.

"If I'll be alright? I'm more than alright!" Sayaka declared, putting her hands on her hips as she flashed them a smile. "I'm back in action, baby!"

"I think she meant on the emotional plan." Madoka said, tilting her head.

"Oh. That..." Sayaka's expression darkened. "I... don't feel that well, actually, but... I feel this taught me something. That, when I've been hurt by people, knowingly or not, I can get myself out of it if I just... talk it out with them, ya know? And I do feel better than before this whole mess started, now that I've worked my issues out. I mean, sure, now my wish is pretty meaningless, but I still get to help people by fighting Witches! And, who knows, we now may have a way of bringing them back to their magical girl state. Also, look at my new, cool jacket!" Sayaka said, gesturing to Yu's gift.

"Wow... that's so cool, Sayaka!" Madoka said, in admiration before Sayaka's new found maturity. Or she just found the jacket cool. Or maybe both. Probably both.

"You literally just came back from the death and that's your reaction? A lesson straight from a Saturday cartoon?" Kyoko sarcastically asked, unimpressed by both thing that Sayaka had boasted.

Homura stared at them from afar, bewildered at what just transpired. This didn't happen in all the other timelines. This wasn't supposed to happen. Hell, it was impossible! She could see the good side of having another Magical girl to fight off Walpurgisnacht, but the Magical Girl was a witch not even twenty minutes ago! That was the first anomaly of this timeline. The other one...

Homura turned toward the three men who had walked into Oktavia's barrier. Who were they? She saw one pick up Kyubey by it's neck as it tried to walk away, and brought it over to the two others to talk about something, probably about what was happening. The blue-haired one seemed pretty agitated, while the black-haired one just seemed perplexed. The silver-haired one was just annoyed.

Did they know about what was happening around Mitakihara?...

* * *

On another plane of existence, two persons, a blond girl with flowers in her hair and a tall, enigmatic man, stared at a pool. Said pool had demonstrated what had just transpired, from the the Persona user arriving to Mitakihara, to everyone recovering from the Witch's barrier exploding. The man turned toward the girl, who was staring in bewilderment.

The Appraiser of Nyx turned toward Mami Tomoe, a grin on his face as he gestured to the pool.

_I told you that this time, things would go well. See?_

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are appreciated.


End file.
